U.S. Department of the Interior attorneys have filed a brief opposing the Drakes Bay Oyster Co. fight to stay open by appealing to the nation's high court.

Kevin Lunny, owner of Drakes Bay Oyster Co., is seeking to have a decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.

His appeal last month to the high court is the latest — and possibly last — legal maneuver as the oyster farm attempts to remain open in the face of a federal government order to shut down.

But the Department of the Interior wants to block that effort and has written its own brief to the high court as to why it should not hear the case.

The closure order came on Nov. 29, 2012, when then interior secretary Ken Salazar announced he would allow a 40-year lease — originally negotiated with the Johnson Oyster Co. in 1972 and taken on by Drakes Bay — to expire.

Lunny's legal team has challenged Salazar's authority to make that decision, but the government argues that lower courts have ruled correctly.

"The petition does not identify any particular, specific, reviewable arguments that were presented to, but disregarded by, the Court of Appeals," according to the filing.

Said Amy Trainer, executive director of the Environmental Action Committee of West Marin: "The Interior Department's brief handily rejects the oyster company's misguided and erroneous legal arguments, and seamlessly shows why the Supreme Court should pass on reviewing this case."

But Peter Prows, who is among the attorneys representing Lunny, took an opposing view.

"The Park Service does not dispute our main argument that the 9th Circuit's decision is in hopeless conflict with many other courts around the country. Nor does the Park Service dispute that the 9th Circuit's decision would gut environmental law," he said. "We're confident the Supreme Court will see through the government's misrepresentations and grant our petition."

The oyster operation could know as soon as October if the court will take the case. Until legal issues are cleared up, the Inverness oyster farm remains open.